Sarasota restaurant voted Florida's best Cuban sandwich by Southern Living readers

Wade Tatangelo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·3 min read

One of the Sarasota area's best restaurants to enjoy a Cuban sandwich has also been voted the top spot for a Cubano in all of Florida.

Southern Living lifestyle magazine, first published in 1966, recently published its eighth annual South’s Best awards featuring small towns and cities, as well as BBQ joints and new restaurants. An online survey was conducted among Southern Living readers, asking them to rate their favorite places across the South. The survey took place in July and August, and had over 20,000 respondents.

The winner for Best Cuban Sandwich also happens to be the oldest restaurant in Florida and a place I love to recommend when asked, "Where should I eat in Sarasota and Bradenton?"

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Columbia Restaurant voted Florida's best Cuban sandwich by Southern Living

Columbia Restaurant, at 411 St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, photographed Dec. 2, 2023.
Columbia Restaurant, at 411 St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, photographed Dec. 2, 2023.

Southern Living asked its readers to tell them all the favorite spots in their home state. The publication then used the information to create the newly published article "23 Best Local Treasures In Every Southern State." Florida’s Best Cuban Sandwich places at No. 4 on the list with Columbia Restaurant.

Southern Living focuses on the Ybor City location, which opened in 1905 and is recognized as the oldest restaurant in Florida. The family-owned and operated Columbia's second oldest location is on St. Armands Circle. Opened in 1959, it's the oldest full-service restaurant in Sarasota. I love the Cuban sandwiches at both locations, which, to my taste buds, are identical.

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What makes Columbia's Cuban sandwich so special?

The Cuban sandwich at Columbia Restaurant, which was founded in 1905 in Tampa’s Ybor City and opened its Sarasota location on St. Armands Circle in 1959.
The Cuban sandwich at Columbia Restaurant, which was founded in 1905 in Tampa’s Ybor City and opened its Sarasota location on St. Armands Circle in 1959.

Biting into a warm, freshly pressed Cuban sandwich at Columbia is like traveling back a century in time, to when immigrants were leaving indelible footprints in Florida communities such as Tampa's Ybor City.

"Tampa was like the sandwich, a mixture of cultures and food," Columbia Restaurant once noted on its website. "The Spanish brought the fine ham, the Sicilians the Genoa salami, the Cubans the mojo-marinated roast pork, the Germans and Jews the Swiss cheese, pickle and mustard."

It must also be noted that the brilliance of the sandwich begins, like all superior sandwiches, with the bread. At Columbia, that means using freshly baked Cuban bread from Tampa's La Segunda Central Bakery, established in 1915. Yes, it's a smartly balanced sandwich, best experienced at the Columbia with the restaurant's equally appealing, and perhaps equally famous, Original "1905" Salad.

Food & Wine magazine names Columbia's Cuban best sandwich in Florida

In 2021, Food & Wine magazine published an article naming "The Best Sandwich in Every State." For Florida, they chose the Columbia's Cubano, which the publication noted was created by Spanish-Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez Sr. "The sandwich and the restaurant — Columbia, pride of Ybor — are still with us, thankfully," reads the article.

Did you know?

Columbia’s Original Cuban Sandwich is only listed on the lunch menu at all of the restaurant's non-airport locations. However, you can order it at dinner, even though it’s not listed.

If you go

Columbia Restaurant's Sarasota location is at 411 St Armands Circle. For more information, call 941-388-3987 or visit columbiarestaurant.com.

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Wade Tatangelo getting ready to eat a Cuban sandwich at Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle in Sarasota on July 30, 2023.
Wade Tatangelo getting ready to eat a Cuban sandwich at Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle in Sarasota on July 30, 2023.

Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota restaurant Columbia voted Florida's best Cuban sandwich